Busy

June was super fun and busy, and I can't believe it's already July. I was gone for most of June and now I'm not going anywhere for the rest of summer. I know I said I probably wouldn't post anything after school got out, but this is exactly why I said PROBABLY haha. I have decided that I'll just post some shorter updates here and there to keep up with what I've been up to or to share a cool idea or recipe.

I went to Lake Powell again the Monday after school got out. A couple of friends and family members  are leaving on missions this summer (my cousin Braeden leaving this week, friend Ashley left June 19, and ward member CJ leaving in August) and wanted one last trip before they have to go. We did a lot of tubing, boating, swimming, cliff jumping, playing volley ball and horse shoes, and doing other random fun things.

Two days after I got home from Powell, I left for Girls Camp. This was my fourth year, so I got to go on an overnight backpacking trip (it was really easy but also really fun). Then I was at camp for a couple days doing the usual things such as crafts and attending fireside devotionals.

I left early to pack for my next adventure; St. Kitts with the Waugh family!!! We went to the beach every day, toured St. Kitts and Nevis, tried new things, went jet skiing, went snorkeling, and of course got sunburned! It was a blast and I really enjoyed being with my friends. Oh and my camera broke so I won't be able to take as many pictures. :( I will just have to find a new one or another way to do what I love.

June was super fun and the only downer was that I missed a lot of soccer and workouts. I'll just have to work extra hard to get back where I was and keep improving. Now I'm in town for the rest of summer so I will have plenty of time to do that. :)

Until the next time I find myself bored enough to reflect on what I've been doing,

Sophie

Success

When looking back on this school year, I can think of so many things I can call a success. For starters, I have managed to maintain good grades which is very important to me. I played on the PCHS girls soccer team as well as a club team, and I increased my fitness level by attending CrossFit Club each week. I took the ACT for the first time and survived AP Geography and blogging every week! I have also made so many friends and grown closer to many others, and none of this would have been possible without them! This year has been a blast, but I am definitely ready for summer. 

My amazing soccer team after our game today

A recent success was my soccer season that just ended. When it first started, things didn't look very good for our team; we didn't have a goalie and we had never played together before. Each game the score got better and better until we finally started winning! Our last game was today and we ended the season with another win, meaning we had five wins and five losses. This is a lot better than we were expecting. I consider this a major success because we had a lot of fun and definitely improved over the course of the season. 

Believe it or not, I consider my blogging experience to be a success as well. I have enjoyed writing about anything and everything, as well as reading what my friends post. Without blogging, I would never have found my favorite food blog, spent hours reading about the funny experiences my friends have, or taken pictures of almost everything incase I decided to blog about it. I think blogging has helped me include more voice in my writing and has been a positive experience overall. I'd like to say that I will keep doing it after this school year, but, let's face it, I probably won't. 

Summer isn't quite here yet, so we all need to stay focussed and finish the school year strong!

Pancake Puffs

One thing that some people do on Mother's Day (and everyone should do more often) is make breakfast for their moms and help out with other meals as well. This year my mom found a breakfast recipe she wanted to try in Our Best Bites cookbook, so I decided to make it for her. It was a recipe for pancake puffs and it was actually really simple and easy to prepare alone.

Ingredients:
-1/2 cup flour
-3/4 cup milk
-2 large eggs
-1/8 teaspoon salt

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and place a mini muffin pan inside.
2. While oven is heating, blend flour, milk, eggs, and salt in a blender until it is smooth.
3. Take the muffin pan out of the oven (use hot pads because it's hot!) and spray it with nonstick spray.
4. Fill muffin wells 3/4 full with batter.
5. Bake for 12-18 minutes, or until batter is puffed and slightly golden.
6. Remove from oven and enjoy with syrup, jam, or any other sauce you like!

*This recipe makes about 24 mini pancake puffs.

They should look like this in the oven

They kind of collapse on themselves when you take them out

Homemade jam was delicious

My mom and family LOVED this recipe and we will probably make it again and try others like it. Dipping the puffs in syrup or eating them with homemade raspberry jam was really good. I would also like to try them with other sauces, powdered sugar, or whipped cream. We especially liked it because it reminded us of yorkshire pudding, one of our favorite foods that we usually eat around Christmas time. This was delicious and I hope some of you try it!

The Season is Here

I'm sure some of you may have noticed that I almost completely stopped talking about soccer, and you're probably wondering why. We thought that the season would start in the middle of March, but our coach kept telling us the wrong dates since the schedule wasn't finalized at that point. Then, in early April, the season was supposed to start, but our first three games were cancelled and rescheduled due to bad weather. We finally got to a really late start at the end of April.

The season didn't start out the way we would have liked, but there are many contributing factors. The fact that we don't have a goalie or enough girls on our team is our biggest problem. To make up for our lack of players, a couple girls from the U13 team are playing up. They are pretty good and help a lot, but they are a lot smaller than fifteen year-olds and they have to play their own games in addition to ours.

Our last game was particularly hard because we played with only ten players half the time (there are usually 11 on the field, plus multiple subs). The U13 girls had a game at the same time as us, so they couldn't help us out and our coach had to coach them. Our old coach, Bob, coached us instead. Everyone was super excited for him to coach us again. We started the game without subs and then a girl twisted her ankle in the middle of the game. As expected, we didn't win that game, but we played well and had a lot of fun with Bob coaching us.

So far we haven't won any of our games, but we are getting better at playing as a unit and I am excited to see how we get better throughout the season. Considering all the disadvantages our team faces, we are doing pretty well and have improved a lot.

Gracie's soccer ball with mine.
Gracie has had a headache for about 6 weeks, pray for her to get better!

Spring Break!

This year over spring break, I gave my mind a huge rest, but barely let my body rest at all. I did the very minimum amount of homework I had to (I have yet to see if I will regret this), and just about everything else I did had to do with physical activity. In other words, my break was AWESOME.

I spent Monday and Tuesday in the San Rafael Swell in Southern Utah with a family I go to church with. The temperature was in the seventies and I couldn't think of a place I would rather be. We went running and hiking on Monday, and we hiked Little Wild Horse Canyon on Tuesday. It was beautiful and super fun!

Part of the slot canyon we hiked

On Wednesday, my mom, brother, sister, and I drove down to Lake Powell to meet up with some  friends (pretty much the CrossFit Club; Brea, Chandler, Josh, Calen, my siblings, and me (plus a few adults)) and go backpacking. We spent Wednesday night on the houseboat and left Thursday morning for Lake Canyon to backpack. The original plan was to spend two nights at the campsite we found so we could hike around on the second day. However, when we got there, our water filters weren't working properly so we cut the backpacking portion of our trip short and only spent one night. The scenery was beautiful both during the day and at night. I go to Lake Powell every year, but I have never backpacked there so I got to see a lot of new scenery.

Our packs were a little big on us

Our whole group (minus my mom) at a ruin we hiked to

We spent Friday and Saturday just hanging out and relaxing. We were all happy about that because there wasn't nearly as much water at our destination as we expected there to be. We went on a really fun hike in a slot canyon just off the road to Lake Powell. There was a lot of climbing and it was super nice not to wear our packs.

This tunnel went under the road and was part
of the slot canyon we hiked

A view of the sky from the slot canyon

As always, spring break went by way too fast, but I had a blast! That break is in the past, but we only have a few more weeks before school is out and then we will have the whole summer to have more fun.

Have Courage, Arise, & Stand Strong

Last Sunday the LDS youth of the Park City Stake had the opportunity to hear Al Fox speak at a fireside. Many of you, most likely those who are not LDS, are probably thinking: "Who in the world is Al Fox?" Well I'll tell you. Al Fox is a recent convert to the LDS faith whose arms are almost covered with tattoos. "What do tattoos have to do with anything?" She doesn't look like the kind of girl who would be a convert, but she has an amazing personality and a fascinating story. I encourage you to read it on her blog. Anyways, the fact that she has tattoos is significant because she is judged a lot and endures a lot of criticism, but she knows that God loves her, and everyone else, no matter what they look like.

Al's story impacted me greatly because you could see that she firmly believed in what she was talking about, even though she is quite new to the church. Each year, there is a new scripture theme for the youth of the church. In the fireside, Al pointed out that the themes for the past couple of years are related. Two years ago the theme was, "Be strong and of a good courage," (Joshua 1:9). Last year's theme was, "Arise and shine forth, that thy light may be a standard for the nations," (D&C 115:5). This year's theme is, "Stand ye in holy places, and be not moved," (D&C 87:8). She pointed out that they go in order. First have courage, then arise, then stand. I think this is powerful and, like Al said, "It is not a coincidence."

I have been to many firesides, but this one has definitely been my favorite so far. Not just because of Al's amazing personality and story, but because what she talked about was very applicable to our lives. She was constantly making jokes and she always said what was on her mind. Everyone laughed a lot and felt the spirit; it was the perfect environment to remain interested and be uplifted and taught. Many more principles could have been pulled out of what she said, but I just wanted to share that thought with you all. If you get the chance you should definitely check out Al Fox's blog and learn more about her!

Al Fox (white shirt & orange skirt)
 with a few of my friends and me

Al with my sister and me

Disappointment & Frustration

Spring in most places is an exciting time because the weather gradually gets warmer and summer is approaching quickly. However, spring in Park City is frustrating and disappointing. I say this because the weather just can't seem to make up its mind about what season it is. One week the temperature will reach the sixties and then it will plummet to the thirties two days later. The snow melts when it's warm and then starts dumping again when it's cold.

This year has been especially messed up (I can't think of any other way to put it). Park City had an awful snow year, so everyone was excited when temperatures started rising and snow started melting. Then, out of nowhere, a giant snowstorm came and destroyed all hope of warm weather. We would be grateful for the snow at any other time, but it's a little harsh when the weather taunts us. The past week was a perfect example of this.

Here are some pictures I took on four consecutive white days on my way back from seminary:

Last Tuesday
4/2/13

Last Thursday
4/4/13

Monday
4/8/13

Wednesday
4/10/13

The delay of spring isn't the only thing making me disappointed and frustrated. My first soccer game was supposed to be on Monday, but it was rescheduled due to an unexpected snowstorm. Also, in my last post, I talked about my elbow hurting and making it hard to workout. It has been a few weeks since it has bothered me, but for some reason the pain came back on Tuesday at CrossFit Club. I still don't know what I did to hurt it, but it feels very unstable. Hopefully I'll be able to see a doctor and get it figured out soon!